Involvement in useless
Leave a reply
Category Archives: T. Tarbiyet
Keeping a misbah
Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him) instructed that,
‘It is fine to use a misbah (tasbih) to keep track of dhikr done.
There is no riya (show off) if one’s active intention in using it is to make dhikr.
Riya occurs when the sole intention is to show off.
Continue readingقبض : Spiritual Constriction
Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him) said as he was replying to a spiritual seeker’s letter,
‘One of my friends was experiencing severe qabd (spiritual constriction).
This is a spiritual state. It is an exacting severe condition that may sometimes result in suicide attempts. And if dealt with successfully it leads to extreme proximity (qurb) of Allah.
It is not the laziness people ordinarily feel in doing good works.
I advised him to visit and stay in the company (suhba) of the pious (Ahl al-Allah). This is extremely beneficial in treating this condition. He resides in another city faraway and is adamant that he will take bayah nowhere else. However, when instructed firmly he started visiting someone pious (ahl al-Allah) in his vicinity. In the current letter he reports significant improvement in his condition.’
Addressing the audience in the office sayyidi reiterated the importance of pious company even without any oral communication, for the treatment of spiritual ailments.
Office Darul Uloom Karachi, after zohar 5/3/2022
Laziness or illness
An individual inquired that how can a person convalescing from a illness differentiate that not doing his daily ma’mulaat (wird) is because of illness or due to laziness.
Sayyidi wa sanadi Mufti Mohammed Taqi Usmani (Allah protect & preserve him) replied,
‘One should do the daily ma’mulaat (on trial basis) and see. If there is deterioration in his illness then it is from disease otherwise it is laziness.’
Office, Darul Uloom Karachi, 5/3/2022 after zohar
Gratitude
Hazrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) once mentioned the following:
Expressing gratitude over a favour and being pleased with it, considering it to be purely the grace and mercy of Allah Ta‘ala, is the right which the one enjoying the favour owes to the One who bestowed him with the favour – Allah Ta‘ala. It is in reference to this that Allah Ta‘ala says in the Qur’aan Majeed:
قُل بِفَضلِ اللّٰهِ وَبِرَحمَتِه فَبِذٰلِکَ فَلیَفْرَحُوا
Say, “In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy – in that let them rejoice.” (Surah Yunus v. 58)
This form of happiness and joy is actually a form of shukr to Allah Ta‘ala and hence it is praiseworthy and desirable in deen.
However, contrary to this, there is another form of happiness that equates to pride. This is where a person becomes boastful and happy over the bounty, attributing it to his own effort and achievement, and not to Allah Ta‘ala, and this is ingratitude to the One who bestowed the favour. The root cause of this ingratitude is that a person forgets and loses sight of the fact that this bounty and favour can be taken away from him at any moment. It is in reference to this boastful attitude that Allah Ta‘ala mentions in the Qur’aan Majeed:
اِذْ قَالَ لَهُ قَوْمُهُ لَا تَفْرَحْ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا یُحِبُّ الفَرِحِینَ
When his people (the people of Qaaroon) said to him, “Do not be filled with boastfulness (in your happiness), indeed Allah does not like those who are filled with boastfulness (in their happiness).” (Surah Qasas v. 76)
In the case of Qaaroon, he was happy over the wealth itself (not the bounty of Allah Ta‘ala), so look at what an evil end and outcome he met!
When one receives the bounty and blessing, and then reflects that it belongs to Allah Ta‘ala and He may take it away at any time, then the feeling of gratitude that he experiences in his heart at that time is regarded as shukr to Allah Ta‘ala.
(Malfoozaat Hakeemul Ummat 22/176)
Source:Ihyaauddeen.co.za
How Islah is done?
Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) said,
The treatment of spiritual ailments (blameworthy moral characteristics) is not possible without disclosing information about them. Some of them are so hidden and complicated that the one who is seeking the remedy is unaware of them. This is can be seen in books about the path (Sulook) and Moral reformation.
Therefore’ an individual is needed to diagnose and discern about these spiritual ailments. He is the Perfect Spiritual mentor (Shakyh e kamil). Most of the time for a Shaykh e kamil to make a diagnosis it is required that the patient himself informs him about the illness as much as possible and does not hide any information.
This is exactly like the medical Doctor (-patient encounter). Some information for diagnosing the illness he gets from pulse, appearance (physical examination), urine (laboratory test) and for the rest it is necessary that the patient himself gives him information (history).
In this special situation sometimes the (patient’s) nafs dislikes disclosing his spiritual illness to the (spiritual doctor). ………..
However, one should not be ashamed of telling him.
In this world this disclosure is to a single individual, in Here-after everyone will know it.
Here this single disclosure is beneficial in all aspects that it will lead to a cure, whereas the public disclosure in Hereafter will be nothing but explicit humility.
Kaleed e masnavi, volume 2, page 192-3
Refuting Orientalist
Someone asked him: “How can the Orientalists be refuted?”
Shaykh Mustafa Azami (Allah have mercy on him) advised us not to spend our time refuting the Orientalists.
He said that he had spent all his life refuting them, but their objective was not to find the truth, rather to create wrong comments. After you work on displacing the doubts created by them, they’re not going to apologize and mend their ways. Rather, they’ll manufacture a new falsehood. And so, your life will pass in cleaning up the dirt created by them. You should instead work on putting forward the truth. This was the advice he gave us.
Cheating
While speaking to us, Hoca (Shaykh Mustafa Azami, Allah have mercy on him) told us that when he was student at Al-Azhar, he once went to get some milk. On the wall of the milk seller’s shop, it was written with calligraphy: “The one who cheats, he is not from one of us.” This is taken from a hadith. But the milk seller was adding water to the milk in front of this hadith on his wall.
Everyone laughed upon hearing this.
But Hoca added, “You all too, when you reach the class five minutes late, when you do not prepare well, when you waste time in empty talk during the class, you too fall to the level of the man adulterating milk with water.” Everyone was taken back upon hearing this. A pin drop silence followed.
Till today, I’ve not forgotten those words. I try to fulfill the rights of the class lesson in its true sense. I remind myself that whenever I go late to class, or if I don’t prepare myself well, I fall to the level of the man mixing milk with water.
https://www.ilmgate.org/remembering-shaykh-mustafa-azami-a-talk-by-dr-recep-senturk/
The daily wird
Imam Ahmed Zarruq (Allah have mercy on him) instructed,
Organize your devotional practices, and you will find your time extended due to the barakah [blessings] in it.
Never leave an atom’s weight of your regular devotional practice.
Advice on Repentance
Gossip
Imam Ahmed Zarruq (Allah have mercy on him) instructed,
Never belittle any talk that involves absent people, even if there is no harm in it due to the possibility of harm entering into it.
Advice regarding Repentance
Deceptions of Nafs
Shaikh Ahmed Arqam Balkhi (Allah have mercy on him) narrates that once my inner-self (nafs) insisted that I go and join the battle (jihad). I was surprised. In Quran Allah says that nafs commands to do evil and my nafs was telling me to do something virtuous. How can this be possible?
I confronted the nafs and said that most probably you are sick of staying in solitude and want that I go in the army where people will pay respect to me. However, I am going to fight alone (not join the army). Nafs agreed. I became more suspicious. I told him that I will fight without ammunition and die first. He agreed to it also. I told him many similar things and he agreed to all.
I was perplexed.
I prayed fervently to Allah to show me nafs’ deception.
In a vision (mukashafa) I saw my nafs.
He said that every day you kill me several times by not doing what I command, so if you go for Jihad and are killed instantaneously then it will be easier.
Moreover, no one knows about this daily struggle. It is hidden from all. But if you are killed in battlefield everyone will speak highly about you. All will say Ahmed is a martyr (shaheed).
The deception of nafs are complex and deep. They requires consultation with a mentor (murshid).
Tanveer ul Afaq: Shah Turab Ali Qalandar (Allah have mercy on him)
Non-beneficial Knowledge
The Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace from Allah be on him) said,
The most severely tormented person on the Day of Resurrection will be a knowledgeable individual who did not benefit from his (own) knowledge.
Ihya al Uloom 1/31(Tabrani, Bayhaiqi)
Keep progressing
A seeker must never become content at a particular spiritual state.
He must constantly desire more progress. This is by worship & spiritual efforts, maintaining focus & firm determination, and sincere humble supplications.
Usool e Tasawwuf, Muqalat e Hakimul Ummat ra, volume 14, page 100
Distraction in wird
A seeker wrote,
While reciting the daily wird I become distracted and a feeling of completing it quickly prevails. This is causing extreme distress and apprehension.
Hakim al-Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (Allah have mercy on him) replied,
Do not even pay attention to this apprehension.
Complete the wird (whatever the feelings maybe).
Be reassured, that InshaAllah with persistent remembrance (dhikr e daim) this apprehension will fade away by itself.
Rafa adh dheeq an ahl at-tareeq, Muqalat e Hakim al Ummat, vol 14, page 72
Enthusiasm
A seeker wrote, these days I feel completely listless. There is no enthusiasm at all for anything. This includes no eagerness to perform acts of worship.
Hakim al Umma Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Allah have mercy on him) replied,
Enthusiasm is not a necessary requirement. Performance of acts of worship (in itself) is an essential requirement.
Moreover, acts of worship done without enthusiasm entail hardship and hence carry more reward.
This tip is worth to be remembered forever.
Rafa adh dheeq an ahl tareeq, Muqalat e Hakim al Ummat, vol 14, page 72